Magic Council
The Magic Council (魔法評議院 Mahō Hyōgīn) is the ruling body of the world of Magic. Overview As the main ruling body of the entire Magic world, the Council possesses almost utmost control over it, acting as a leading government of sort. The Council rules all of the legal Guilds scattered throughout Earth Land, overseeing them and keeping them in check, and they are responsible for the events caused by Mages, also possessing the right to punish Mages who break the law and to confiscate Magical artifacts which could potentially cause large-scale damage (as shown from the Lullaby being in their hands after the Eisenwald incident). Among the things prohibited by the Magic Council is the use of Magic for assassination, something which, if perpetrated, could lead the Council to oust the offender's guild (as shown with "Shinigami" Erigor and the Eisenwald guild). The Council has the right to apprehend Mages charged with crimes anytime, with their messengers being highly respected. Gray Fullbuster went on to say that "Even if something is white, once a Council member says it's black, then it becomes black", showing that the Council's authority is extremely large in the Magic world. However, despite this, the Council is known for sometimes displaying its power as a mere formality, finding scapegoat Mages and trying them of recent, calamitous happenings just to subsequently release them without any punishment, something which happened with Erza Scarlet.) Main Members The Magic Council is composed of nine members at a time, or, to be more accurate, eight "seats", going from 2nd to 8th. The 1st seat is occupied by the Chairman, effectively the leader of the entire Council, who takes the final decisions on every matter. Employees Working for the Magic Council is a series of strange, humanoid creatures, reminiscent of anthropomorphous amphibians, partially covered in spots, who are perfectly capable of talking, and fulfill various roles, such as envoys, guards and Magical technicians for the Satellite Square: Etherion. Where do they come from or what race they belong to is as of yet unknown. Such creatures' uniform consist of a wide-collared dark jacket, with wide sleeves and edges and cuffs adorned by a series of light stripes, over a light shirt, held closed on the front by a multitude of laces ending in a bow knot in the upper part, and a long, light skirt-like cloth covering the legs. The outfit is completed by a small, elongated dark hat matching the jacket, which gets larger near its top, and has a flat, round object on the front, reminiscent of a medal. The anime visibly simplified the uniform's shirt, which was deprived of most of its laces, with only the bow knot remaining in the form of an ornamental ribbon. Military Being basically the government of the Magic world, the Council has an array of armed forces at its disposal, which it uses to maintain peace and make sure that none breaks the established laws. Rune Knights A military subdivision within the Council, acting as a personal constable of sort, Rune Knights are the Council's army. Their job is to enforce the Council's ideals of justice and to investigate crimes related to the Magic world. They are also responsible for dealing with issues such as detaining criminals and passing judgement on to them. They patrol over a large span of land all across the country. They are known to possess several garrisons scattered throughout Fiore, with their numbers being consistent, and have battleships at their disposal for sea transportation. They are divided into squads, with some of them performing particular duties, and most of them being led by a ranked officer. The soldiers are clad in a garish uniform, highly reminiscent of those worn by real priests: they don a long, high-collared, sleeveless dark robe over a light shirt with wide sleeves ending below the elbows, where they are circled by thin bands; the robe is covered on the front by a light cloth, bearing the dark, ankh-like symbol of the Council, held still by a light belt circling the waist. Around the soldiers' neck is a long, light cape bearing the Council's insignia on the back, held closed below the neck by a rhomboidal clasp adorned by a gem, and on their head sits a light headgear, with a decorated lower part, reminiscent of a mitre, but with three tops, a central one and two more at its sides. They also wear simple boots with the front parts covered in vertical stripes. Each Rune Knight comes equipped with a long metal staff, ending in a sphere, seemingly a globe made of crystal, topped by a small cross. The anime gave slightly different portrayals of the Council's soldiers, replacing their robe's lower part with very loose pants, mildly reminiscent of hakama, and their boots with sandals, adding to their religious appearance. High-ranking Rune Knight officers such as division commanders are shown to wear a more formal, less garish attire, which loses most of the religious look distinguishing soldiers: they wear an elegant dark jacket, with light edges and two buttoned bands on each cuff, over a lighter shirt with the Council's dark symbol on it, loose, light suit pants held up by a massive belt, light gloves and distinctive, light shoes, bearing a snakeskin-like pattern. The only similarity between soldiers' outfit and the one exclusive to division commanders appears to be the cape, which in the latters' case, however, also covers the shoulders, and sports a larger clasp closing it. Rune Knight officers aren't shown wielding any weapon. Rune Knights are known to possess combat skills and are able to perform different forms of magic. However, their fighting prowess is mostly unknown; it is known, however, that particular squadrons, such as the 4th Custody Enforcement Unit, are capable of using Magic similar to Jutsu Shiki, generating glyph barriers which can prevent those caught inside them from leaving until the spell is nullified. Such technique can be performed with enough discretion to remain unnoticed while it is being casted, with the targets finding out about it only after it has become effective. Aside from that, Rune Knights shown so far seemed to mainly employ melee combat, assaulting enemies in large groups and generating Magical auras on the ending part of their staffs; something whose effect or aim is unknown. However, even considerable amounts of them could be knocked out by way smaller groups of proficient melee fighters, implying their skills to be just average.